Optimizing Resuscitation After Cardiac Arrest in the Community

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Resuscitative efforts have been shown to be unsuccessful in most cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), and survivors who do recover cardiac function often sustain severe hypoxic brain damage. Time to efficacious care is a primary determinant of disability-free survival. In the Jerusalem district, only 9% of OHCA patients present with ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) as the primary rhythm, whereas 77% present with asystole; this seems primarily to be the result of long collapse-to-arrival times. Nevertheless, overly zealous resuscitation is undertaken in a high proportion of arrests with a futile prognosis, leading to excessive costs.

Study hypotheses:

Subpopulations for whom intervention is futile/counter-productive are identifiable

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Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Sampling Method:

Probability Sample

Study Population

All victims of non-traumatic out-of hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (defined as the absence of either spontaneous respiration or palpable pulse or both) within the Jerusalem district.

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

All victims of non-traumatic out-of hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (defined as the absence of either spontaneous respiration or palpable pulse or both) within the Jerusalem district.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with do-not-resuscitate orders or an advance directive to that effect.